Busy Swanger-Bees

It has been a little while since I have blogged..we have been pretty busy around here lately. I got really sick for a good week and on top of it had to teach RS...it was a good lesson though so that helped. I have been working a lot it seems lately and sometimes it gets really stressful, but it is a good job and overall I do like it or else I would have been gone years ago. I am getting going on the yard too and my dad ripped out a huge Leland Cypress on the side porch that far exceeded the house.NOT GOOD!! So I am so glad that it is gone and I can get refocused.

I have been able to see some friends lately and I am glad for that, but I have missed my movie nights..lol I am soooo excited for school to start soon and could NOT be happier about it!!! My kids have grown like weeds this summer and so we have been shopping quite a bit. I was able to swing by Knuckleheads before the big sale and got a bunch of stuff for "J"man and a couple things for Eve. I could not believe that she did not fit into even the 7s! She is getting SO BIG! It is truly NUTS! I swear every morning I get up she is bigger. ha,ha

I was thinking about some stuff the other day and realized that Miss Eve is going to be baptized in about 5/6 weeks...and I am going to have a major breakdown...literally! Whenever I think about it tears begin to fall like rain...I never really though this moment would come! You might be wondering what's the big deal?? She is only turning 8, but to me it is life changing. By this simple act I am saying good bye to my baby, to the child that I no longer can "FULLY" protect. I want SO much for her...I want the world..I never want her to experience the pain and anguish that I have and still do experience. I want her to make sensible choices and to listen intensely to the Spirit so that she may be protected as much as Heavenly possible. I say Heavenly because I trust in the Lord that angels watch over and protect my family. I want her to know that the Gospel of Christ is the truth and not to follow or base her testimony on others...because we all have weaknesses and all are imperfect. I want her to know her savior and understand all that he did for her out of pure love. I know that this is so much for a little girl, but she is special..she notices things that other little children don't. She is very perceptive, headstrong, determined and strong willed- I have always felt like this was a bad thing and then as I discovered my faith as a mother I began to think of it differently, it is actually a blessing! I will never lie and say that all has been all well with Eve and that's it's been peachy keen, but rather the opposite because as a first time mother I didn't know how to love and understand her, I would cry almost daily because I didn't know how to handle her. I have since made peace with myself and the many many mistakes that I made earlier on and one's I still do. I am her mother, I am here to help her find herself. She is a unique spirit, full of life, always on the go...if I just help her channel all that it will all be good- well at least some of the time. lol

On to the the pictures..
I put up this picture because I finally finished the bonus room, for now anyway. So the one up at the top is a "before" picture after I had already taken quite a few things out.

I have locked the door and the kids are not allowed in here by themselves..SO NICE! Also it has greatly helped them get back in their beds.


This is my dining room

This is my living room joined together.
I am changing the colors of the drapes and chairs for the table and maybe the side chairs. I went by fabric stores and got swatches that really kind of jumped out at me. I took them out last night and grouped them together and I am having such a hard time choosing which design I like the most.

PLEASE give me your opinions..I have until Thursday night to decide.
So remember I am looking for drapes, chair fabric, pillows.. etc. for 2 rooms!



NO. 1
I like this one so much, but there is a lot going on on some of these which is good and bad, but that is what made me like them in the first place. It would be really happy fabrics. I love stripes and those colors together are so soothing and I can always use that in my life. I love how the flowers make it more of a poly flair too. The bottom fabrics are really thick for chairs. I think I could be happy with this one for a while and that's important. It's cool because they are all so different,but they all go together so well.


NO. 2

I LOVE this one! I do have concerns though...like maybe it's too bright?? Would I like it for a substantial amount of time? But the colors look so pretty! Looking at them just makes me smile! The one with the fans in aqua and turquoise also have other colors involved on it as well and they look beautiful together on the fabric. It would be another way to incorporate colorful accessories. I love the honey comb-ish one in lt. aqua and it's really thick so it would be good for chairs. The brighter aqua one with the chocolate sprigs is so rich and liquorish and the one on the bottom left is so elegant and would be more than perfect for the dining room drapes being that it is fancy and it has a silk/shimmer effect. And I am a girly girl so sparkles and shimmers are my thing. Another big reason why I like these colors is because it was my wedding color and we already have some things in the china hutch that matches. Aqua/blues was also my favorite color when I was little and it has always stuck.


NO. 3

I like this one a lot too! The colors are more muted, but soothing. They have modern and classic flairs along with traditional. And I like to mix it up. The dotted one as well as the stripes would be great for drapes and the other two are perfect for chairs. I asked Geoff what he liked and he said "I don't know why, but my eye keeps on catching that one" and pointed to the cool modern one on the right. The one thing that I don't like is that this color is really similar to the accent color in the family room and I don't want too much of the same color, but there is so much in these fabrics that it wouldn't be that noticeable.


NO.4

The lighting really is screwed up on this one so sorry. I didn't notice until it was already downloaded, but imagine it much, much brighter. The thing with this one is that it is something I would've never done! The two on the left are the same fabric, but there was so much going on it was hard to picture it all. I like how intense and bold these colors are. There are quite a few drawbacks though...the colors don't really go with the entry colors, but wouldn't exactly clash either, I don't' have that green really anywhere, but it is such great fabric for chairs- totally cool! And the orange one on the right is GORGEOUS!! It is amazing as drapes ( I saw them at Fabric Depot) also the one on the left is so dark in the backdrop it is like cocoa been chocolate, which is really pretty it's just we already have mocha furniture and Brazilian Cherry floors and I am afraid of how much sun it is going to suck up . I want something lighter and brighter and most of all cheery and different.



We went camping for the first time EVER up around Olympia! We went for just a couple days and nights and it was really nice to get away. The first morning it rained and that just bit! So we went shopping for a couple hours (thanks to Bump $) for some new shoes for the kids because theirs where already all nasty. I DO NOT LIKE DIRT!!! I do however enjoy the festivities of camping..the air, the nature, the silence, the fire, the moonlight, the family talks, the games, the s'mores, the flashlights/ lanterns, the tents, but what I don't like..the dirt, the potty situation, the hard ground, the pine needles. I think the good outweighs the bad. It is just so hard when you have a bottle feeding child who is on the brink of being done and has already started the terrible twos. The story with our kids is that Eve got hers around 12 months and it really kicked in at 18 months and Jack never got them and just skipped over it and got the irritating 4s lol. Well, now I have this little baby boy Tiger who is as ornery as ever and is taking after his older sister. Boy am I stressed sometimes..along with work and all I really don't think we could handle another one anyway at this rate. I will have cold sores for the rest of my life!!!


Mim, Jack and Eve setting up and coloring.


We got this tent 2 years ago at Costco and I am sooo glad...I love it!! It is huge! We fit 2 queen mattresses inside and still could fit 2 twins and enough room for bags still, and it is two rooms too!


Just playing around.


He loved looking and exploring and making Mommy mad.


My boys!


They loved playing in the tent..maybe we will set it up at home before summer ends.


Eve discovered this huge dip a site away from our and Bump brought up a bike and she had such a blast riding through it. Even Manti took off to play there all by himself while we where all doing stuff , I was taking Eve to the bathroom and Geoff thought that I took him and some kids brought him back and asked Mim if that was our baby..THAT WAS SCARY! He keeps us on our toes constantly! I said after that we are getting out the monkey! (a child leash)

We went to the library a little while ago and got a huge stack of books and brought them. It was so fun reading to the kids over the campfire.


HELP! I'm stuck!! lol
Parents learned....THE TENT IS NOT THE SAME AS A CRIB.

This is how Mim does breakfast camping= MCDONALD'S.

SO CUTE!!
One Saturday our friends the Dooleys where able to come up for a couple hours and hang. We miss them a lot since they moved up north and it was so good to see them and all the growing girls.


These are projects that I just finished last week. I made the board with the hooks.


I put up the turtles.


I made this family home evening sign. I have since put up hanging letters for our first names in turquoise with ribbon.


I needed this sign to help remind me of what is important so I snatched the writing in Utah and made this one too. I love the style of writing and the bottom part too.

Well thanks for your time and looking over the blog. I hope to be much better about blogging on maybe a weekly basis at least..that will probably happen once school does.